sk0766 Reviews

For Love of the Game (1999)

A bit overdone, but surprisingly good

[8/10 · 11 March 2002]

Frankly, Kevin Costner isn't one of my favorites. I liked "No Way Out", "Field of Dreams" and a couple of his other outings; and although I loved "Dances With Wolves", I found his acting to be one of the weaker points of the movie.

But Costner is nonetheless good at baseball movies, and Sam Raimi is a great director, so some good had to come out of it. And it did.

Sure, it's long and drawn out at times - but so was "The Natural" (and so is baseball itself, for that matter). And it's emotionally overwrought at times, but then so was "Field of Dreams". Still, I found the balance of love story and baseball movie more satisfying than I expected. Costner is a little too much of a jerk at times, and Kelly Preston is a way too forgiving of his faults, but the emotions are realistic enough otherwise.

It is hard to categorize though - with elements of both a typical "guy movie" (almost incomprehensible love of sports) and "chick flick" (love story, realistic emotionalism and hurt feelings), it's hard to pin down into one genre. But no matter where it belongs, I still find myself watching it whenever it's on cable. Score: 8/10.

Monty Python's Flying Circus: Live at Aspen (1998 TV Special)

Humorous

[8/10 · 24 July 2001]

HBO special. Although billed as an awards ceremony, it's mostly a retrospective of their past work with a couple of great new little bits that remind the viewer that their humor, intelligence, and bad taste still haven't changed much through the years. All of the Pythons are there (including Graham Chapman in powdered form), and is MC'd by a surprisingly un-annoying Robert Klein. Memories of the group's past are interspersed with bits from the Flying Circus show and their movies (except for Life of Brian, which is curiously censored due to legal reasons), along with a couple of contrived - but funny - new bits to spice things up. We've seen most of this stuff before, but it still brings a smile to the face nonetheless. Flashes of the audience center mostly on the previous cast of Cheers (why? who knows). All in all, a funny and enjoyable way to blow an hour.

Billy Madison (1995)

Least-commercialized and funniest Sandler

[17 May 2000]

As Adam Sandler's movies were made, they became more and more commercial - and less humorous with every one. You can watch the progression from Billy Madison to Happy Gilmore to The Wedding Singer to Big Daddy (I'm purposely leaving out The Waterboy, which was kind of a sidestep); the humor is less bizarre and more heartwarming with each movie, but you get the definite feeling he's having less fun each time.

This is his first "solo" movie, and arguably the best of the bunch (Happy Gilmore is a close 2nd). He looks likes he's having a blast filming it, barely able to avoid bursting out laughing in every scene, not particularly caring if the audience "gets the joke" or not. Although watching him pull up to the high school in his REO Speedwagon shirt as "Stroke Me" plays on the radio had me dying laughing, the elementary school stuff was the funniest overall. You can't help but reminisce when you watch him - remembering having the teacher read stories to the class one minute, and getting to play dodge ball the next. God those times were great...

It also drags at times (whenever it's trying to advance the story - such as it is - rather than goofing off), but all in all it's very funny. The first time I saw it was late-night on the cable movie channel, and I swore I'd wake up the house I was laughing so hard.

If you're looking for intelligent entertainment, rent something else - but if you want to laugh your butt off while you watch Adam Sandler back when he was having fun making movies, this is one that's hard to beat.